IPNW in the News

On June 1, 2018 over 290 community members, exonerees, and Innocence Project Northwest supporters came together to celebrate survivors of wrongful conviction, honor community champions for social justice, and raise funds to free more innocent people in Washington State.

How did members of Amazon's legal team get to work behind the scenes on wrongful conviction cases that look a bit like those chronicled in famous podcasts like "Serial" or documentaries like "Making a Murderer" or "West of Memphis"?

The Latest in National and International Innocence Movement News

On June 1, 2018 over 290 community members, exonerees, and Innocence Project Northwest supporters came together to celebrate survivors of wrongful conviction, honor community champions for social justice, and raise funds to free more innocent people in Washington State.

Several signs, including the only surviving victim's personal account, pointed to three white attackers, and blond or brown hairs were found in the victims’ hands, as if torn off in a struggle. Why is a black man on death row for the crime?

Forensic science is only science-magic on shows like CSI, where blood drops quickly reveal the patterns of a killer and a fingerprint places someone at a crime scene, even if it’s only half of one, and smudged off the side of a door.

You can hear it in his voice as he talks about the police detectives who put together the case against him all those years ago. Despite a $7.5 million settlement with the city, he's angry. "To the Louisville police, shame on y'all. Shame on y'all," he said at a press conference in which he and his lawyer and Jerome Camp, the brother of the man he was convicted of killing, called for a new investigation.

The number of exonerations involving wrongdoing by police, prosecutors and other government workers set a record last year, according to a report released on Wednesday. The findings are part of a larger trend that reflects America's more aggressive attempts to expose and understand the causes of wrongful convictions.

The rate of wrongful convictions in the United States is estimated to be somewhere between 2% to 10%. That may sound low, but when applied to a prison population of 2.3 million, the numbers become staggering. Can there really be 46,000 to 230,000 innocent people locked away? Those of us who are involved in exoneration work firmly believe so.

Motions filed in court to overturn the homicide convictions of two men in a 1994 killing reveal that a man serving a life sentence for a double murder told family members he was responsible for the killing and newly available DNA evidence links him to the crime.

In both cases, lawyers for the men say eyewitness misidentification led to decades of injustice as Jones and Alexander remained innocently jailed instead of the true perpetrators — an issue Louisiana lawmakers are hoping to address this session.

How did members of Amazon's legal team get to work behind the scenes on wrongful conviction cases that look a bit like those chronicled in famous podcasts like "Serial" or documentaries like "Making a Murderer" or "West of Memphis"?

Martin granted certificates of innocence to nine men whose cases were thrown out by prosecutors based on allegations Watts and officers on his tactical team planted drugs, falsified reports and lied in court.

A San Jose man has been exonerated of child molestation charges some 27 years after he was convicted. Attorneys and volunteers with The Northern California Innocence Project were with Glenn Payne at the Hall of Justice Friday when a judge reversed his conviction.

Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara is accused of framing at least 51 people for murder. When a group of mothers, aunts and sisters found that no officials — not the state's attorney's office, not the mayor's office — wanted to take up their cause, the women went in search of justice themselves.

To Maurice Possley, a journalist who helps maintain a comprehensive registry of exonerations at the University of Michigan and has written for The Marshall Project, it's a big deal either way. "This is not defense attorneys or wrongly convicted defendants saying it,” he said. “A major player in the field of law enforcement has stated that this method leads to false confessions."

Floyd Bledsoe, Richard Jones and I share a unique bond. We were all wrongfully convicted by the state of Kansas. We all served decades in prison together at Lansing Correctional Facility until we were exonerated and released. Now we are all 41 years old. We are restarting our lives without a dime of support from the state that unjustly imprisoned us.

A trial judge even declared Spencer innocent and concluded the evidence that put him behind bars was falling apart. That was 10 years ago. A higher court ruled that was not enough to warrant a new trial. And Spencer remains in a maximum security prison.

... the lead defense attorney, and many of the law enforcement officers who would be needed as witnesses," prosecutors acknowledge in their appeal. Jones' Innocence Project New Orleans attorneys said an appeal of Anderson's ruling is a waste of resources and an effort to further deny his legal rights.

Two men in a Cadillac were shot dead in broad daylight in Kansas City, Kan., on April 15, 1994. Court documents and sworn affidavits show how an innocent 17-year-old, Lamonte McIntyre, was convicted for the double murder and sentenced to life. A lot went wrong.

“You never saw a sunrise; you never saw a sunset,” Dugan told him. “You never drove a car. You never fell in love with somebody. You never had any of the things that all of us take for granted. And I want you to know I am responsible for that — because I told the jury what they should do, and they did it.”

Consider this: Alan Newton served more than 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit before DNA analysis proved him innocent and he was exonerated. Now, had this occurred in Alabama, he would have received $50,000 for every year of wrongful imprisonment. Instead, Newton was convicted in the state of New York, where exonerees receive nothing, and are instead forced to sue the government for compensation.

You can help free innocent prisoners with the click of a button! Join freedom fighters around the world by pledging to take action against wrongful convictions in commemoration of International Wrongful Conviction Day. From changing your profile photo on social media, to making a gift of financial support - there are many ways that you can be a part of the innocence movement.

As the seventh speaker at TEDxUofW, Lara Zarowsky, policy director for Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW), discussed the flawed criminal justice system in which she has invested her passion for the past 17 years.

On the night of March 9, 2000, after 14 hours of interrogation over two days, 19-year-old Donovan Allen confessed to two Longview police detectives that he strangled and bludgeoned his mother, Sharon Cox, with a rifle.

Most law students go to school, hoping to some day make a change. For students involved with clinics at Innocence Project NW, they're not waiting until after graduation to free the innocent and change the criminal justice system.

Sixteen years ago, Donovan Allen was wrongly convicted of his mother’s murder. He was 18 years old at the time. Police elicited a false confession, and prosecutors presented testimonies from incentivized witnesses at his trial, where he was convicted of first-degree murder.

The push for a second arrest in a shocking abduction case led Seattle police to jail the wrong man — and now may bring better policies for working with witnesses and presenting photos of possible suspects.

DNA collected in any felony case charged as a violent or sex offense will now be preserved through the length of the offender's sentence, including post-prison community custody, under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Jay Inslee.

Wrongful Convictions by the Numbers

About Us

Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW) was founded in 1997 at the University of Washington School of Law. IPNW works to free innocent prisoners, help prevent future wrongful convictions through education and policy reform, and support exonerees as they rebuild their lives in freedom. To date, IPNW has exonerated 14 men and women who collectively served over 100 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Discover how your help furthers our cause and supports our vital programs. See what we do.

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